Chapter 367: Chapter 314: Escape
No need to guess, this unfortunate man who was tied up is the bait Mo Daidai had found, and they had actually managed to capture the image of this ghost.
Both Yang Xiao and Tong Han were drawn to the photo. The background’s tea-colored glass was somewhat blurred, and the two could only barely make out the details. The ghost was wearing strange clothes, resembling a ragged cloth robe, instantly reminding Yang Xiao of the ghost envoy stone statue he had seen before.
Tong Han, standing by his side, seemed to come to the same realization and couldn’t help but gasp, "It’s that ghost envoy, it’s come to life."
Since the first time he saw that ghost envoy sculpture, Yang Xiao had a very bad feeling about it, but he never could have imagined that it would come to life and chase after them.
Yang Xiao suddenly felt like he was being played, but after calming down and thinking it over, given Mo Daidai’s status and position, he didn’t seem to have anything to gain by scheming against Yang Xiao.
"Look here," Tong Han suddenly pointed at the photo and said.
The ghost’s figure reflected on the tea-colored glass was very blurred. Yang Xiao stared at it for a few seconds before suddenly realizing something was off. The ghost’s body was peculiar; the tips of its shoes facing the man as if it were walking, but its upper body was twisted 180 degrees, in a very unnatural posture, with its back to the man.
Even more strange was that the upper body of the ghost seemed bloated as if its hands were held up in front of it in a position of worshiping Buddha.
The head was enormous, completely out of proportion to its body, but it was obscured by a strange shadow. It didn’t look like a human head—both the shape and size felt wrong, more like a monster.
Staring at the shadow covering the ghost envoy’s head, an idea suddenly flashed through Yang Xiao’s mind. He took out the Soul-Capturing Mirror and held it up to the photo, then observed through the reflection in the mirror. It was a completely subconscious act, Yang Xiao himself couldn’t explain why he did it.
However, it did have an effect. The shadow seemed to recede a bit, and he could vaguely make out a ghastly white face hidden within.
The proportions of the face to the head were severely mismatched, and it was somewhat askew. Yang Xiao’s first impression was that the face did not belong to the owner of the head, but rather it seemed to have been forcibly torn from somewhere else and then affixed to the head.
Tong Han, maintaining the same actions as Yang Xiao, also observed through the Soul-Capturing Mirror. As the two of them looked more closely, leaning in, the shadow began to fade faster. Just as Yang Xiao felt that in a few more minutes, they would be able to see the ghost’s face clearly, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that startled him so much he nearly dropped the Soul-Capturing Mirror.
The photo in the box had changed at some point; the ghost was now facing away from them, with one leg stepping out, the tip of its shoe pointing directly at Yang Xiao.
With quick reflexes, Tong Han slammed the box shut and, without saying another word, grabbed a roll of silver paper prepared nearby and wrapped the entire box tightly seven or eight times.
After finishing all this, she collapsed onto a chair, gasping for breath. The ghost was too strange, able to spread curses through a photo and not sparing even the likes of them at the source.
After only a few contacts, Yang Xiao was certain that the ghost envoy stone sculpture was at least a Ghost Level Grudge Eye, it was too vicious.
"Why didn’t you react just now?" Tong Han asked, catching her breath and immediately turning to look at Yang Xiao. "You seem off."
"I just thought of something," Yang Xiao put away the Soul-Capturing Mirror and slowly stood up.
But such an evasive answer obviously wasn’t enough to satisfy Tong Han. She stood up and pressed, "What did you think of?"
After a moment of silence, Yang Xiao finally spoke, "I’ve thought of a way, perhaps we can get rid of this ghost’s entanglement forever."
Tong Han’s eyebrows knitted together, as if she had thought of something. She glanced at the backpack on Yang Xiao’s back, "Using that Soul-Capturing Mirror?"
"Sort of."
Yang Xiao didn’t want to explain too much to Tong Han. It was a spontaneous idea he had. Just another minute earlier, and that ghost would have appeared right behind them, but this also gave Yang Xiao a new line of thought. What if they didn’t try to draw the ghost out in the real world, but in the Mirror World?
With the Soul-Capturing Mirror, he could leave the Mirror World the instant the ghost appeared. No one who had been trapped in the Mirror World before had been able to escape.
What about the ghost?
Could the ghost escape?
Yang Xiao wanted to try it out, not just to deal with the ghost envoy. He had always been troubled by the Mirror Ghost hidden in the Mirror World.
He couldn’t find the Mirror Ghost, but that didn’t mean the ghost envoy couldn’t. In terms of being troublesome, the ghost envoy seemed even more challenging. If he could lure the ghost envoy to fight the Mirror Ghost, no matter the outcome, he wouldn’t come out at a loss.
After all, the Mirror World centers around him as the nucleus, with each new location creating a unique version, and given its limited space, the most ideal situation would be to lure a Ghost Envoy inside to eliminate the Mirror Ghost, then the Ghost Envoy would be locked in this place’s Mirror World, meaning Yang Xiao could simply avoid coming here ever again.
"You plan to lock the Ghost Envoy in the Mirror World to evade being hunted," Tong Han suddenly spoke up.
Yang Xiao was stunned for a moment, not expecting this woman to respond so quickly, but he liked making friends with smart people, especially those he was about to go on a raid with. Yang Xiao smiled and nodded, "That’s right, do you have any objections?"
"Your idea is not bad, but it’s very difficult to succeed, and it’s extremely dangerous. Can you ensure that your moves are faster than the ghost’s?" Tong Han pressed on. "Also, how can you determine when and where the ghost will appear when this Ghostly Level Grudge Eye cannot see?"
Tong Han was right, but for Yang Xiao these were not big problems. Just because others could not see did not mean he couldn’t. He had a Ghost Lantern specifically designed to penetrate illusions like Ghost Hitting the Wall.
This was Mo Daidai’s territory, and Yang Xiao needed to consult with boss Mo for his opinion. After hearing out Yang Xiao’s plan, Mo Daidai was very interested, directly agreeing to let Yang Xiao go ahead, with his full support.
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll lock the Ghost Envoy inside, preventing the opening of the Nightmare World?" Yang Xiao couldn’t help but ask, curious. After all, this task was of extraordinary importance to Mo Daidai, as his sister’s life was hanging by a thread, and he had invested countless time and money into it.
Unexpectedly, Mo Daidai on the other end of the phone suddenly laughed, "My friend, although I hate to say this, you’re perhaps giving yourself too much credit. However, this at least proves your courage and exceptional creativity. I have faith in you."
After hanging up the phone, Yang Xiao began to prepare for his plan. He first had Mo Daidai find a spacious room, then in that room, as well as several adjacent rooms and the corridor, he set up numerous large mirrors, dozens of them.
The mirrors were scattered all around, some hung on walls, others propped up on stands on the floor, with angles and positions varying. If danger arose, these were Yang Xiao’s capital for escape.
He had to prepare for the worst-case scenario: summoning the Ghost Envoy, but the Soul-Capturing Mirror’s ability to return to the real world might be limited. In that case, he would have to use these strategically placed mirrors to buy time, since he had already been attacked once, and that attack made it clear that the ghost’s speed was not terrifying, only the method of attack was rather peculiar.
At 9 p.m. sharp, everything was almost ready. After clearing the room of any unrelated parties and even having Tong Han, another potential source, stay far away in another room dozens of meters away, Yang Xiao took a deep breath, donned his Drama Robe, and holding the silver suitcase containing the photographs, he entered the Mirror World.
As before, the Mirror World almost perfectly mirrored the real world outside, only enveloped in a thin layer of grayish gloom, as if a persistent aura of death loomed.
But after so many life-and-death struggles, this gloomy and eerie atmosphere actually gave Yang Xiao an indescribable sense of safety. It seemed only here did he feel fearless and without reservations, as if this was his home.
To be safe, Yang Xiao walked around the vicinity with the Ghost Lantern in hand, but detected nothing unusual and did not find the Mirror Ghost.
He set down the suitcase, opened it, and took out the photographs. The ghostly image on the photo still held its previous posture, as though it could step out from the photo at any moment.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Xiao lifted the Soul-Capturing Mirror and aimed it at the ghostly image on the photo. Almost instantly, a piece of the photo suddenly became empty—the ghostly image...vanished.
At the same time, Yang Xiao immediately felt a wave of coldness spreading around him, chilling to the bone. Although he couldn’t yet pinpoint the source of this chill, Yang Xiao, who had seen the photo, knew that the ghost must be right behind him.
Turning around while immediately lifting the Ghost Lantern, the unexpected happened—Yang Xiao could distinctly feel something approaching, yet there was nothing in front of the lantern.
"It didn’t appear in the light?"
Yang Xiao didn’t have time to panic and immediately took lifesaving measures, channeling his spiritual power into the Soul-Capturing Mirror in his other hand. In the next second, he left the Mirror World, returning to reality.
"Whew—" Back in the real world, Yang Xiao gasped for air, although there had been a mishap, overall, it went smoothly; he left the Ghost Envoy in the Mirror World, and he, had completed the impossible task.
Waiting a moment, and with the Ghost Envoy still having not appeared, Yang Xiao finally began to relax. He took out his phone to send a message to Mo Daidai, but right after clicking send, an unexpected error popped up—message failed to send, even after several tries.
Yang Xiao suddenly had a very bad feeling. The vicinity was... too quiet. Although he had cleared all the people from the area in advance, this quiet was unnatural—not a human voice, not even the wind’s sound, or noise from the street outside could be heard.
Moments later, Yang Xiao shivered, sensing a familiar chilling presence creeping up behind him.
"This is bad..."
Yang Xiao wasn’t sure where the problem lay, and he couldn’t even tell if he was in the Mirror World or the real world, but it no longer mattered. He turned and rushed towards the nearest large mirror, while lifting the Ghost Lantern to protect himself.
In the second before his body vanished into the mirror, he saw it—nothing behind him, but under the mournful green light of the lantern, an eerie, approaching shadow was cast on the wall beside him.
